Toxic scallops found around Hitra and Frøya

Scallop, one of several species. Photo: wikipedia

Toxic scallops found around Hitra and Frøya

High levels of PSP toxins have been detected in scallops outside Hitra and Frøya in Sør-Trøndelag. The Food Safety Authority therefore warns against eating these.

In the last three weeks there has been a halt in the harvest of scallops in the area, according to NRK.

– We know that people are diving for scallops during the summer time, says senior inspector Merete Hestdal in The Food Authority (Mattilsynet).

Numbness in lips and mouth

The limit value for scallops is 800 micrograms PSP per kilo. It is measured between 1,075 and 13,293 micrograms per kilogram in the area.

Symptoms of digesting the paralyzing poison PSP is foremost numbness in lips and mouth, fingers and toes. Muscle paralysis can also occur, and in the worst case, it may affect the respiratory muscles, according to The Food Authority.

Scallops, Wikipedia

Scallop (/ˈskɒləp/ or /ˈskæləp/) is a common name that is primarily applied to any one of numerous species of saltwater clams or marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name “scallop” is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families within the superfamily Pectinoidea, which also includes the thorny oysters.

Scallops are a cosmopolitan family of bivalves which are found in all of the world’s oceans, although never in freshwater. They are one of very few groups of bivalves to be primarily “free-living”, with many species capable of rapidly swimming short distances and even of migrating some distance across the ocean floor.

A small minority of scallop species live cemented to rocky substrates as adults, while others attach themselves to stationary or rooted objects such as sea grass at some point in their lives by means of a filament they secrete called a byssal thread.

The majority of species, however, live recumbent on sandy substrates, and when they sense the presence of a predator such as a starfish, they may attempt to escape by swimming swiftly but erratically through the water using jet propulsion created by repeatedly clapping their shells together. Scallops have a well-developed nervous system, and unlike most other bivalves all scallops have a ring of numerous simple eyes situated around the edge of their mantles.

Many species of scallop are highly prized as a food source, and some are farmed as aquaculture. The word “scallop” is also applied to the meat of these bivalves when it is sold as seafood. The brightly coloured, symmetrical, fan-shaped shells of scallops with their radiating and often fluted ornamentation are valued by shell collectors, and have been used since ancient times as motifs in art, architecture and design.

Owing to their widespread distribution, scallop shells are a common sight on beaches and are often brightly coloured, making them a popular object to collect among beachcombers and holidaymakers.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today